Photo of the Day: My Children are Proof PMTCT Works

By Jane Coaston | September 4, 2013

Paskazia, an HIV-positive mother, has two HIV-negative children thanks to PMTCT care and treatment. (Photo: James Pursey/EGPAF).

Paskazia lives with her husband, John, and her children in a village in the Shinyanga Region of Tanzania. After she lost her 14-year-old daughter, Betha, to HIV/AIDS, Paskazia decided to get an HIV test. She tested positive, but thanks to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), she received prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) services that enabled to have two HIV-negative children.

“I safely delivered a baby girl named Bahati and she received medicine to protect her from HIV infection after birth… Bahati fell sick when she was three months old, and I feared she may have HIV. But my daughter has been tested many times and she is HIV-negative. I’m so happy that both my children, Bahati and Semini, are HIV-free and I’m grateful to have access to antiretroviral therapy so I can live a healthy life.”